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DESIGN DIRECTOR.

ARTIST.
CULTURE MAKER.

About

he/him/his

Design, Strategy, & UI/UX

I have 19+ years leading brand strategy and design research projects that create purpose-driven messaging, digital brand experiences, & emotional design systems.

I create workshops and processes that create a human-centered approach to branding, visual design, UI/UX, company goals, and positioning within the marketplace.

Art & Illustration

I create illustrations, artwork &, community. My work is sold as commercial illustrations, original artworks, prints, and apparel.

FERVOR CREATIVE

Strategist & Designer

February 2006 – October 2011

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Interactive Designer

August 2004 – February 2006

FIREBELLY DESIGN

Design Strategist 

January 2020 – March 2020

HUMAN MADE

Director (Americas) for Altis

January 2019 – December 2019

GRIP DESIGN

Director

March 2015 – October 2018

Strategist & Producer

November 2011 – March 2015

FROG

Associate Design Director
April 2022 – Present

LONNIE DRAWS

Owner, Illustration Artist
November 2019 – Present

HARNESS INNOVATION

Owner, Design Strategist

November 2018 – Present

Résumé

Services

UI + UX / Illustration / Brand Strategy / Research & Workshop Facilitation / Full Stack Visual Design & Marketing / Agile & Sprint Planning / Account Management / Business Development / Remote Collaboration Systems

Select Clients

- Disney
- PlayStation

- TechCrunch

- Whole Foods

- Panera

- AOL

- Folsom Street Events

- Snopes.com

- Steppenwolf Theatre

You have been amazing - the partners and I are so impressed with your organization, communication, your understanding of our platform, your presentations, and the design deliverables. I’ve never been through a process like this and it has been incredible to experience. I will definitely be engaging you for my other company if you’re available of course!

Jade Green

CEO, Alta Financial Group

Lonnie is the person you want to lead your team to success. From start to finish his dedication to motivate action and strive for excellence is unwavering and contagious. His ability to face any task without intimidation or hesitation inspires calculated risk and facilitates greatness. What seems daunting or unachievable becomes thrilling and challenging with Lonnie at the helm.

Joshua Blaylock

Creative Director, Grip

It is not often that an individual embodies this degree of depth, perception, wisdom and proficiency. Lonnie’s contributions to the graphic design world and the digital space are significant and have created value and measurable impact to these focuses and processes.

Nick Canelake

Global Marketing Director, Orielle/Milk & Sass Beauty

Lonnie is an amazing designer. He takes the time to understand the product and corporate goals for which he is designing, he asks excellent questions and follows through. Lonnie has produced unique solutions for the most challenging and technical sites.

Naomi Garnice

Global Marketing Director, TP Orthodontics Worldwide

I wanted to say how grateful I am for throwing yourself into our company and culture. I also think you've brought a lot to the company too and have really enjoyed our conversations, your empathetic leadership style, and your positivity and candor; that in particular has been a great example for me for how to be clear and direct whilst also being positive and kind and it's something I feel I'm better at having worked with you.

Tom Willmot

CEO, Human Made

Lonnie is an amazing designer with a great personality! He is easy to work with and extremely good at what he does. Lonnie is a rarity in the industry and I absolutely recommend him for any web project!

George Skleres

Game Designer, Riot Games

TESTIMONIALS

🏆 Successes

  • Grew a social following by almost 6,000% in 30 days with collaborations and custom artwork

  • Led Roti & Sopraffina Marketcaffe rebrand (increased SMC sales by 10%)
  • 10,000-36,7000 view counts for the queer niche video content in top videos

  • 12.6K queer social media followers

  • 32+ collaborations with queer brands & creators

  • Helped bring in 43,000 additional customers for Whole Foods with campaign strategy, copywriting and management

  • Led Roti & Sopraffina Marketcaffe rebrand (increased SMC sales by 10%)

  • Increased donations by 44% following a strategic website redesign

🏆 Awards, Titles, & Designations

  • Highest award for design portfolio (AIGA Arizona Prisma Award)

  • Board member of AIGA, PHX Design Week, & Phoenix Comicon

  • Co-wrote and produced a best-selling book on packaging: Best Practices for Graphic Designers, Packaging: An essential guide for implementing effective package design solutions

  • 8 design awards

 

🏆 Press & Media

Buzz-worthy work has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Elle, InStyle, People, GQ, Playboy, Details, LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, X-Factor Magazine, Cybersocket Magazine, Wine & Spirits, Communication Arts, Brand New, Under Consideration, and Mindsparkle Mag

HEY, THERE!

Are you looking for a design leader, workshop facilitator, doer, & super collaborator?

 

My background in branding and UI/UX design was honed at frog, Firebelly Design, Grip, Human Made, and Fervor Creative.

I've had a wonderful journey from designer ➡️ front-end developer ➡️ strategist ➡️ director & manager ➡️ to business owner, so I know what teams need and how to delight and engage clients.

Hire me to bring ✨ joy ✨ and optimism to your remote team of designers, illustrators, PMs, engineers, & clients.

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